A variety of mechanical steering wheel locking apparatus have been proposed, commonly clamping the steering wheel to a brake pedal or to one or more obstructive security arms which prevent effective rotation thereof by engagement with an adjacent body part of the automobile such as the windscreen. As these devices are visible from the exterior of the vehicle when in use they act also as a deterrent to intending thieves.
Examples of such prior apparatus are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,030 issued Jan. 4, 1994 to Cole; U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,679 issued Nov. 15, 1994 to Prasad; Jan., 4, 1994 to Cole; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 3,504,72 issued Sep. 13, 1994 to White; U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,524 issued Aug. 1, 1978 to Mitchell et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,823 issued Oct. 8, 1991 to Fuller.
However all such apparatus require separate storage and require the user, typically the driver to assemble the apparatus to the steering wheel after parking and to disassemble the apparatus before driving.
Such assembly and disassembly steps are awkward and time consuming often involving additional size matching adjustments while the disassembled apparatus must be stored in a convenient location for immediate access by the driver with risk of obstructing the pedals or other controls, usually forming an inconvenient obstacle on the front passengers side of the vehicle.
A different approach is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,908 issued Jun. 8, 1993 to Cole but this is a relatively complex and expensive mechanism which disconnects the entire steering wheel from the steering column to prevent use of the steering wheel.